Sleeping Dogs Review

At first I would like to thank United Front Games for honestly being one of the top game developers. Sleeping Dogs was one of the best games I’ve played in a while and I’m saying this as a big gamer.

The game was visualized so beautifully that it actually makes you want to visit a Hong Kong. Open world games usually don’t look like this and never really focus on the martial arts like this game does. The gun battles are like none other, the story line is complex yet fascinating to a point where the player is amused by everything going on, that some people who’ve played this game have actually visited Hong Kong due to the games realistic, and life like features.

The developers took care of this game like no other pc game has been done before, the quality by far the most realistic. The nylon lights, the beautiful streets of Hong Kong, the amazing dialog – you really can’t ask for anything better. I love how they mixed the Chinese and North American cultures together and how free they were at expressing their love for herbal tea and their famous “pork buns”.

The Sleeping Dogs developers put a great effort in their research while taking on this project. I was amazed at how great the martial arts in this game were. As kids we all grew up watching Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee movies – with this game you actually feel your childhood kicking in and you feel like you’re in the middle of Hong Kong fighting those great battles with Hong Kong gangsters.

The guns battles are amusing, you can pick form a selection of different weapons. One of my favorite weapons was the fish – yes fish! The game allows you to pick up a real fish and hit enemies with it which I’ve found hysterical. Cars are based on the cars seen on Need For Speed which I thought was really cool and it worked great.

Comments

I was really skeptical about this game because it looked just like another GTA clone. You can definitely feel that formula, but it's improved. I read reviews about this game through other websites and got a general idea of what I was getting into.

The story is top notch as well as the voice acting. Controls are really responsive. I think the focus on the fighting engine is the best part. I try to find reasons to fight people in the game. I'm not a big racing fan, but the vehicle controls are smooth and realistic feeling. The authenticity is what I love. I enjoy the Chinese culture and have many Chinese friends so playing the game felt familiar.

The main issue I have with the game is the camera control. While driving, fighting, or just generally traversing the the game there are times when the camera gets all wonky. Other than that I can't think of any reason not to at least play the game. Good job Square-Enix for picking up this game instead of letting it die.

Open-World games are always popular among gamers . for instance GTA & Mafia series are 2 top Open-World series and I love both . True Crime was an open-world game that actually sold good then United Front Games decided to continue franchise and make True Crime : Hong Kong . Activision was supposed to publish it but for some reason Square Enix, publisher of Final Fantasy series announced that it has taken the charge of publishing this game and title also change to "Sleeping Dogs" . no one expected much from Sleeping Dogs but it did quite a feat . the game-play is perfect . Kung fu and martial arts are as exciting as Driving around the city . designing of the city is great . in the Sleeping Dogs Hong Kong is your playground . you can enter illegal races, gamble on cock fights or kick back some karaoke . Epic high-speed thrills like burning up streets or tearing up the sea in a vast array of exotic cars,super-bikes and speedboats is fabulous . Story is wonderful and Screen-play attracts players . I suggest you play this masterpiece and join the Sleeping Dogs.

In many ways GTA has been dethroned by this game. Sleeping Dogs is a lot of fun, and seriously addictive. It may lack the complete freedom of GTA IV (no flying vehicles available), which I guess is still considered the benchmark for open world video games even 5 years on, but Sleeping Dogs is far, far more refined with superior graphics and details, as well as featuring a much more likable protagonist.

As I began to play I felt that the game was very similar to the True Crime games. I later learned that it was actually planned as True Crime: Hong Kong, before Activision cancelled it and passed it over to Square Enix who continued to develop it as a new title. So this really is the 'spiritual second sequel' to True Crime that we never got, and I have been accidentally referring to it as such. As far as I am concerned it is.

The game stars Wei Shen as an undercover cop raised in California who returns to Hong Kong to infiltrate the mob. It's full of clichés but is highly entertaining and never once boring. There are a variety of missions including gunfights, fist fights, foot chases, car chases, boat chases, espionage, as well as multiple side missions and upgrades. Highly addictive stuff indeed. And bloody too, very, very bloody. Believe me, the game justifies the age restriction without ever seeming forced.

I do have some complaints, like not being able to hail taxis and missing them every time you dash for them. Also there never any cars to hijack when you need them, meaning you'll have to run up the street hoping to block the way of a passing vehicle. The radio stations are not as humorous as GTA, but there are some nice tunes on there.

The game is liberal with trophies, and features loads of DLC on the PlayStation Network, including two new missions sets. I'm not done with this game yet!

I was one of the few people who was excited about Sleeping Dogs prior to the attention it got at E3. From what I heard it had a great story and some good action.

As soon as it came out I dropped the 60 dollars, went home and unwrapped it faster than a greedy child unwrapping a Christmas present. I soon txtd my best friend and cried to him over the phone as the game literally blew my mind away, literally not figuratively, that's right…

To be honest Sleeping Dogs is a lot like oxycontin, about 15 minutes in you're high and it feels epic, however there is a come off. Before I go further lets talk about the pros and cons

Pros: Amazing story Great combat system Driving is silky smooth The side missions are fairly humorous The voice acting is top notch Wei Shen is a serious bad*** Nothing quite like taking over a hospital with the gun of a cop you just executed..

Sorry about that last one I couldn't resist to speak of my proudest moment.. Anyways

Cons: Game is too short Absolutely 0 replay value No real punishment for doing wrong Very difficult to earn cop points Absolutely no control over how the story goes. Game is inconsistent in the cool stuff you can do outside of missions (will explain) Hong Kong is tiny..

The standout of Sleeping Dogs is the incredibly epic story and the fighting/driving system. The combat system never really gets old and the driving system presents it's own amount of fun. Drive with a motorcycle straight into a small mini van, right before you hit it pull the analog stick back to do a wheelie and watch how far you soar, my record is 52. The gameplay is very entertaining and started this game at a 9.0/10.

However as I continued through the game and did everything in my power to become as Triad as possible (2 Cops points 9 1/5 Triad points)I had creeping feeling that my choices would not influence anything. The game gives you a feel of customization, just like if your father got a nice juicy burger and gave you a small piece. You get really happy and want more. However once I beat the game Wei Shen remained a cop, I was fairly saddened by this as I'd grown to like Jackie. I eventually went through and beat it as a Cop, doin all sorts of law stuff. And the game went the same way. This is my biggest problem with Sleeping Dogs. They offer you all sorts of stuff, like tricking out your place, painting whatever car you want, changing to wardrobe to whatever you want. Yet the one thing I wanted most was control over how my destiny went. This time I counted how many civilians I killed, and considering my numbers in Skyrim were 300+ (thats right I keep a log..) I came to only 70. Yet still I remained a cop. The other big problem is the game has 0 replay value and gives you a sense of "dat wasn't worth 60 bucks.." It's like ODST minus Firefight, and we all know firefight made ODST.

All in all I took it down from a 9.0 to a 7.5 and like Skyrim I felt frustrated about the lack of control I had over the story due to lack of lasting consequences. Skyrim is a bit different yes but when I realized there were no good-guy quests I turned into Satan…

Overall a 7.5 seems fitting, great gameplay and Wei Shen is very interesting but lack of replay value and control over the outcome really took away the appeal of it further into the game.

I would not recommend paying the 60 bucks, I do recommend picking it up but this isn't an instabuy type game.